To me, “Cape Cod Morning,” by Edward Hopper, represents familiarity, security, and a life without “funkiness.” I think that both his painting and this excerpt from The Bluest Eye demonstrate scenes of simplified perfection. These characters, as well as others in The Bluest Eye are stripped of emotions, complexities, passions, and individuality. They fit the role that society has chosen for them and have no volition of their own. They lack spunk, sexuality, and freedom. Toni Morrison’s female characters in The Bluest Eye are conflicted between their very real, complex lives and the ideal that is presented to them by society. Some choose to cover over their problems, their “funk” with a façade of calm, cold, perfection. They give up their individual identities, their freedom, and their souls in order to conform to what society demands of them.
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